


Shadow the Hedgehog (Season One)

by TheRedeemer1995



Series: Shadow SatAM AU [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series
Genre: All Hail Shadow, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Alternate Universe - Metal Sonic is Sonic the Hedgehog Roboticized, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Cameos, Chaos Control, Chaos Emeralds, Creative License, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Eggman Empire (Sonic the Hedgehog), F/M, Find The Computer Room!, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Losers Get Roboticized, Lots and Lots of Creative License, Maria Robotnik is a Hedgehog, Metal Kingdom (Sonic the Hedgehog), Metal Sonic Is Like A Son To Robotnik, Mobians (Sonic the Hedgehog), Mobius (Sonic the Hedgehog), Nothing Can Pierce Metal Sonic's Pollymer Alloys!, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, References to Sonic the Hedgehog, Refernces to The Sonic the Hedgehog Mythos As A Whole, Robians (Sonic the Hedgehog), Robotization (Sonic the Hedgehog), Robotnik Empire, Shadally, Shadow in Sonic SatAM, Shadow the Hedgehog Needs A Hug, Shadow x Sally, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic CD, Sonic SatAM - Freeform, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 Video Game), Sonic the Hedgehog Corrupted By Robotnik, Sonic the Hedgehog Roboticized, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Princess and Her Dark Knight, Time Stones (Sonic the Hedgehog), Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Time Travel Fix-It Failure, Where's That DAMN Fourth Chaos Emerald?!, lots and lots of cameos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26270440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedeemer1995/pseuds/TheRedeemer1995
Summary: Shadow the Hedgehog, the world's Ultimate Life Form, while not the leader per se, is the face of the Freedom Fighters Against Robotnik, a face that Doctor Robotnik would more than love to wipe off the face of Mobius. Created from a sample of Sir Charles Hedgehog's own blood, as well as the blood of an unknown contact encountered by Robotnik himself, Shadow grew up alongside Charles' biological daughter, Maria, and Charles' nephew, Sonikku "Sonic" Hedgehog. With Robotnik's coup, Shadow's family was destroyed. And now... he promises revenge and ruination upon those who took his family from him, as do the rest of the Freedom Fighters.
Relationships: Antoine D'Coolette/Bunnie Rabbot, Cream the Rabbit/Miles "Tails" Prower, Dr. Eggman l Dr. Robotnik & Snively Robotnik, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik & Metal Sonic, Knuckles the Echidna/Rouge the Bat, Metal Sonic & Snively Robotnik, Miles "Tails" Prower & Shadow the Hedgehog, Sally Acorn & Shadow the Hedgehog, Sally Acorn/Antoine D'Coolette (One-Sided), Sally Acorn/Metal Sonic (One-Sided), Sally Acorn/Shadow the Hedgehog
Series: Shadow SatAM AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1908676
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. The Ultimate Life Form

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome to my latest Sonic the Hedgehog creation. Admittedly, this has been one that I have considered doing for the longest time, purely for the sake of an experiment, namely replacing Sonic with characters like Shadow the Hedgehog in these adventures. In fact, I actually have another one in the pipeline where Shadow takes Sonic's place during the events of Sonic Unleashed, and trust me when I say I have some fun things planned for that one, namely in terms of Shadow the Werehog's personality as opposed to Sonic the Werehog, amongst other things. But, that's enough about that for now. Anyways, unlike Sonic SatAM, I very much plan on taking this series beyond a mere two "seasons" or stories, and as such, I plan on adding more characters and items from the video games and overall Sonic mythos into my plans, like the Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, and characters like Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Rouge the Bat, Vector "FIND THE COMPUTER ROOM!" the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Charmy the Bee, and more. After all, it HAS been over sixteen or seventeen years since Sonic SatAM came to a maddening cliffhanger of an ending, and during that time, a great deal of characters who I feel would work in place of characters from SatAM have surfaced, such as King Arthur and Merlina from Sonic and the Black Knight, who will be taking the place of the Guardian (with King Arthur actually being called the Black Knight in that scenario) and Lazor respectively during the events of "Super Sonic," and Mephiles the Dark will be taking the place of Naugus as creator of the Void and those red eyes that appeared behind Snively at the very end of the SatAM series, meaning that Mephiles will ultimately become a key player in this AU. However, while Mephiles and Iblis both exist in this AU, Solaris does not, as Iblis will ultimately be a creation of Mephiles' dark power.
> 
> And yes, those eyes beyond Snively were Naugus, not Metal Sonic or Knuckles... why anyone would think it'd be Knuckles is beyond me, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
> 
> Well, that about wraps it up, so on that note, let us start the game!

__

_ Chapter I _

_ The Ultimate Life Form _

_ So, you've come to hear our tale, have you? It is a tale of life and death. Of good and evil. Of oppression and freedom. _

_ Allow me to introduce myself. I am Shadow the Hedgehog. I am the world's Ultimate Life Form, created by Sir Charles Hedgehog as part of a project overseen by King Maximillian Acorn himself. It was to create the perfect soldier, one who would not let another Great War consume our kingdom. But, at the same time, King Acorn wanted a soldier who could be just another Mobian when he or she was not needed. _

_ With the help of an unknown contact encountered by Julian Kintobor, leader of the Mobian Army and one of the backers of the project, and his own DNA, Sir Charles was able to create a baby red and black hedgehog. _

_ In other words, myself. _

_ Although Julian was disappointed by the result, King Acorn appeared to have had faith in me. Sir Charles was granted permission to raise me as his son, alongside his own daughter, Maria, until I was old enough to begin my training. _

_ As the years went by, I forged a strong friendship with Princess Sally Acorn, the daughter of the king and queen of Mobius. When I was about five, Father took in his nephew: a blue hedgehog named Sonic. We quickly established a friendship that was more like being brothers. _

_ Three years after Sonic arrived, Kintobor led a coup against King Acorn, using the robots that made up the city's defense force against him. Calling himself Doctor Robotnik, he launched a massive battleship called the Destroyer, reducing the city of Mobotropolis to a polluted wasteland renamed by Robotnik as "Robotropolis." _

_ While the aristocrats, as the source of Robotnik's wealth, were left in peace and kept well-taken care of, everyone else wasn't so fortunate. Princess Sally, myself, and a few others escaped Robotnik's forces, but Father and Sonic weren't so lucky. They were captured and roboticized. For those of you reading this who don't know what robotization is, it's basically a process where an organic being is turned into a robot. And not in the mindless and empty sort of way, I mean, they are turned into an actual robot. Sounds cruel, right? _

_ As for Maria... we had only barely made it out of town and were crossing the bridge to safety when the bridge fell out from under us. Me, Sally, and the others made it across, but Maria... did not. We never found her body. _

_ We arrived in the safety of the Great Forest, where, as it turned out many other citizens of Mobotropolis/Robotropolis, had escaped into. It was then that we decided to fight back and bring Robotnik down, and restore Robotropolis to its true identity as Mobotropolis. We would call ourselves the Freedom Fighters, and nothing could stand in our way. _

_ Years went by, and we trained hard, perfecting our skills, mastering various forms of weaponry and combat, until, finally, we were ready to take on Dr. Robotnik. _

_ Of all of the Freedom Fighters, I know Robotnik loathes me more. Mostly because I led most of the direct attacks on his factories and bases. _

_ Like this one, for example... _

_ Robotropolis-Scrap Brain Zone _

A small platoon of SWAT-Bots began to march up to one of the prototype weapons factories of Dr. Robotnik. These SWAT-Bots were vehicular in design, but they could easily stand up on two legs, and were armed with all sorts of deadly weaponry.

As the robots entered an elevator and descended deeper into the factory, they were completely unaware that one of them had a tracking beacon placed on them that was designed to pinpoint the location of Robotnik's newest and most potentially threatening weapon: the Stealthbot planes.

Up on a nearby rooftop, a black and red hedgehog clad in a black and red leather trench coat, black pants, black leather gloves, and special red and white shoes called "Hover Shoes," held a device that monitored the tracking device. The hedgehog also wore two pairs of golden rings, two on his wrists and two on his ankles, in addition to a belt with several pouches and other gadgets like a grappling hook and smoke pellets. Strapped onto his back were a pair of SMG-blaster hybrids that could combine into a sniper rifle, and what looked like a longsword-blaster rifle hybrid. This was Shadow the Hedgehog, the world's Ultimate Life Form, created to defend the world from threats that could harm it.

"Sublevel 27... 38... 42... Ah! Stopped at Sublevel 55. That must be where those Stealthbots are, Sally," Shadow told a red haired chipmunk girl around his age.

Sally Acorn, Princess of Mobius, daughter to the rightful King, Maximillion Acorn, and Shadow's girlfriend, was wearing a dark blue shirt with a grey collar, lighter blue wrappings on her torso, dark blue capris, grey leggings, and knee-high blue steel-toed boots. She also had on a dark blue cloak with the hood over her head. She brought out a handheld computer from the brown pouch she had attached to her belt and started pressing some buttons.

"Nicole, map out the elevator system and search for possible escape routes," said Sally.

_ "Scanning, Sally," _ said Nicole in her computer voice.

"If we're going to take out those Stealthbot planes, we will need a way for us to get out of there. Once we plant those bombs, it is guaranteed the whole factory will be blown to pieces," explained Sally.

"Agreed," said Shadow, before he pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. "Antoine, Cat, how are things on your end?"

_ Meanwhile... _

A thin middle-aged puma wearing a battered old jacket and blue boots and a coyote with slicked back blonde hair wearing a dark blue and red military dress coat, dark blue pants, black boots, a belt with what appeared to be a sword-blaster rifle hybrid and a black eye patch over his right eye were just outside the weapons factory, attempting to gain access to the ventilation system. With them were a few small cases that contained the bombs with which they were going to sabotage the Stealthbot factory.

"Shh! Be quiet, Antoine! We don't want to alert the guards," hissed the puma as his coyote ally cut through a vent cover with a blowtorch.

"Et iz a blowtorch, Cat. I am doubting very, very much that I am able to get zis to be anymore quiet zan it is," said Antoine with a heavy French accent.

_ "Antoine, Cat, how are things on your end?" _ asked Shadow's voice on the walkie-talkie in Cat's pocket.

Cat pulled out the aforementioned walkie-talkie and pressed the mic button. "We're just about ready to proceed. How about you?" he asked into the device.

_ "Well, Sally's got Nicole working on scanning the elevator shaft, looking for a way out once the fireworks go off. We'll meet up with you inside-" _ Shadow started to say before he was interrupted.

_ "Shadow! Come here!" _ said Sally's voice.

With that, the radio clicked off, leaving Antoine and Cat to wonder what was going on.

_ Back With Shadow and Sally... _

"Shadow, come here!" said Sally as she motioned for her boyfriend to come over to her.

"What's up?" asked Shadow as he came to stand beside herSally pointed at the holographic screen generated by Nicole, which displayed only three words:  _ New Message: Bean. _

"What's 'Bean?'" asked Shadow.

"My father called me 'Bean' when I was little. I think this message might be from him," Sally said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Nicole, play message."

_ "Playing message... Bean, check Subter-File. Input- end of message," _ said Nicole.

Shadow placed a comforting hand on Sally's shoulder. "Sally... I... don't know what to say. I mean, this is the first scrap of information we've picked up on King Acorn in years," said Shadow.

"I know, Shadow... I know," said Sally, her voice cracking as she placed her hand on top of Shadow's. "Nicole, message origin, please."

After several minutes of waiting, Sally finally received her answer as an image of a map appeared.  _ "Message origin: area 12, sector 9, quadrant 32." _

Sally gasped a little too loudly at where those coordinates led. "The Dark Swamp!?" she cried out just as loudly.

Shadow was quick to cover Sally's mouth with his hand as he shushed her harshly. "Quiet!" the black hedgehog hissed.

The pair waited quietly as the overhead SWAT-Bots flew by. Once they did, both Sally and Shadow let out a sigh of relief.

Seconds later, a very-panicked sounding Antoine came in over the radio.  _ "Sally! Shadow! Ze SWAT-Bots- Zey are unto us- AIYEEEEE!" _ said Antoine before the line went dead.

Sally and Shadow looked at each other. "We'd better get there, bust up those bots, and plant our fireworks before backup shows up," said Shadow.

"Agreed. Then, we'd better get to the bottom of that message," said Sally.

And with that, the two Freedom Fighters leapt from the rooftop, using Shadow's hover shoes to slow their descent, before heading to the entrance Antoine and Cat had made into the factory.

_ Back With Antoine and Cat... _

_ "You are under arrest, Freedom Fighters. Surrender now or be terminated," _ said a SWAT-Bot as Antoine and Cat found themselves backed into a wall by a squad of the robots.

The SWAT-Bots had midnight black paint jobs, and were bipedal in appearance, slender for swiftness. One arm was a laser gun, the other arm possessing sharp claws. The robot's legs bent backwards and adorned with razor sharp claws. The bots' heads were humanoid in shape, but had screens or metal plates that emitted a menacing red glow for faces. In short, the SWAT-Bots looked like a cross between an Overlander and a Velociraptor.

Just as things were looking bleak, a voice whistled, causing the SWAT-Bots to turn around. There stood Shadow, a smirk on his face, with Princess Sally standing behind him, holding the bombs.

"Looking for me?" Shadow asked, a taunting smirk on his face as he spoke.

_ "Ultimate Life Form detected, Priority One," _ said the SWAT-Bots before they opened fire on Shadow.

As Sally rushed to set the explosives, Shadow pulled out his sword, the grip of which was stylized for the weapon's secondary purpose, that being its blaster function. With a sadistic-looking smirk, Shadow spoke to encroaching SWAT-Bots.

"Say hello to my friend,  _ Maria _ !" declared Shadow as he brandished his weapon.

Without another word, Shadow charged as he swung  _ Maria _ at the first wave of SWAT-Bots, cutting them in half faster than blinking. As the bots surrounded him, Shadow used his sword to deflect the incoming laser fire back at the shooters, before pulling out one of his SMG-blaster hybrids and unleashed a hail of laser bullets on the remaining SWAT-bots. Each of the lasers pierced the armor of the SWAT-Bots that didn't find themselves on  _ Maria _ 's business end.

As the last of the SWAT-Bots fell apart in a flaming wreckage, Shadow couldn't help but mutter to himself, contempt evident in his voice as he spoke, "Useless heaps of metal…"

The next second, however, Sally's voice came on the walkie-talkie.  _ "Shadow! The last of the usable bombs are in place! Get ready to run for it!" _ the princess' voice yelled over the radio.

"Got it. Wait... what do you mean the  _ usable _ bombs?" asked Shadow. He got his answer when Antoine gave an embarrassed chuckle over the radio. Giving a sigh, Shadow asked, "How many are left?"

He heard the princess sigh as she answered him.  _ "Thanks to Antoine, we were down to three. Thankfully, it won't take much to blow the place apart." _

_ Well, at least SOMETHING came out of this, _ Shadow thought. He then spoke into the walkie-talkie again. "Alright. I'm on my way." With that, he replaced the walkie-talkie and stowed away his weapons before dashing to where the princess, Cat, and Antoine were. "Come on!" Shadow yelled as he slid in front of the other three Freedom Fighters.

Without another word, the four Freedom Fighters made their way to the nearest escape route. As they traveled, Shadow spoke to Sally.

"How long do we have before the bombs go off?" Shadow asked.

"I've extended the time from 10 seconds to 5 minutes. That should give us time to get out should we run into any more of those SWAT-Bots," replied Sally.

Almost as if on cue, right as the four Freedom Fighters reached the end of their escape route, a large squad of SWAT-Bots emerged, clearly having been waiting for them, each armed to the teeth and out for blood.

_ Damn it! _ thought Shadow angrily. He drew his sword as he called out, "Weapons at ready! We'll have to cut our way through."

Seeing this, the other three Freedom Fighters drew their own weapons. Sally was the first to draw her weapon. From her satchel, she pulled out a cone-shaped object and pressed a button. The object extended and became thinner as the crystals that powered its laser blaster function embedded within the handle began to glow. It was Sally's rapier,  _ Rising Dawn _ , one of the last gifts she received from her father, King Acorn, before he disappeared, making it one of Sally's most treasured possessions.

As Cat got out a tube that, at the press of a button, formed into a bo-staff, Antoine nervously brought out a T-shaped gold object. Pressing one of the jewels, a blade extended from the object, turning it into a sword. Like with Sally's rapier, Antoine's sword,  _ Honor Guardian _ , was a gift from his own father, who was a renowned general in the king's army. Like King Acorn, General D'Coolette had disappeared when Robotnik took over.

Like what Shadow had done before, the Freedom Fighters fought their way through what seemed like an endless sea of SWAT-Bots, much like a relentless storm. Before long, the sheer numbers of the robots began to overwhelm the Freedom Fighters.

"There's got to be another way out of this!" said Shadow, striking down a SWAT-Bot with a well-placed thrust of  _ Maria _ . "How much time is left?"

Sally, after slicing two SWAT-Bots in half with  _ Rising Dawn _ , checked Nicole's timer. "Two minutes and thirty-four seconds," she said before ducking a swipe of a SWAT-Bot's claws, before following it up with a blue laser blast.

"Damn! We need an exit, and we need it now," said Shadow as he dispatched another SWAT-Bot with his weapon.

Flooring two SWAT-Bots at once with his staff, Cat caught sight of what could only be a saving grace: a manhole cover. Using his staff to flip the lid open, Cat called out to his allies, "This way!"

Antoine, of course, was the first one to disengage the enemy. Sheathing  _ Honor Guardian _ , he made a beeline for the manhole and jumped through the entrance. Following Antoine was Shadow. Sally fought her way towards the manhole and was part of the way inside as she bore witness to Cat getting hit by a stun beam fired by a SWAT-Bot.

"Cat!" yelled Sally.

At this cry, the SWAT-Bots turned their attention to the princess. Sally realized that she had no choice but to leave Cat behind, or else she'd be captured too, or worse yet, killed in the explosion that was only moments away. Neither outcome was something the Freedom Fighters couldn't afford to have happen.

With that thought in mind, Sally slid the rest of the way into the manhole and into the disused Mobotropolis sewer system, just as an explosion caused the entire factory to collapse, blocking off the manhole cover.

_ Sometime Later… _

After who knew how long of wandering around the sewers, Shadow, Antoine, and Sally managed to escape the death trap of a city that was Robotropolis. After a long, silent trek, the trio of Freedom Fighters finally met up at the rendezvous point: an exterior wall with a crack large enough for an Overlander to slip through.

"Well, I think that could've gone better," said Shadow, sitting down on the ground and draining great globs of gunk out of his Hover Shoes. "But, I must say that was an interesting smell you discovered, Cat." When he got no reply, Shadow looked around, but saw no sign of the puma. "Cat?"

"Shadow, as much as I am hating to be zaying zis, I do not believe Cat made ze trip through ze sewers with us," said Antoine, wiping bits of slime from his uniform.

"He didn't," said Sally, looking a little downcast. "SWAT-Bots got him just before the factory was destroyed."

Shadow cursed under his breath. "We have to go back and find him. There might be a chance that he's still alive," he said, putting his Hover Shoes back on and getting ready to leave before Sally grabbed his arm.

"Shadow, wait," said Sally. "I'm highly certain that message Nicole received was from my father. I'm going to the Dark Swamp to find him."

Shadow turned to face Sally and sighed. "Sal, I know that you're the most gifted swordswoman and computer genius, aside from Tails and Rotor, that I know. But, even so, I don't like the risk that comes with you going to the Dark Swamp alone," said Shadow.

"Oh, I'm not going alone," said Sally. "Antoine's coming with me."

Shadow did a double take while Antoine gave a proud smirk. "Antoine... are you serious?" asked Shadow.

"Very," said Sally.

Shadow placed a palm on his face and shook his head. "All right, it's your funeral. I'll go after Cat, and you two head for the swamp. I'll come find you guys after I'm done. Agreed?" he said.

Sally and Antoine nodded. "Agreed," they both said.

"Be careful," said Shadow. And with that, the Ultimate Life Form clicked the heels of his Hover Shoes together and, for lack of a better term, skated at supersonic speeds towards the ruined factory while Sally and Antoine made their way towards the Dark Swamp.

_ Robotropolis- The Metropolis Zone _

A young man who was almost bald save for a few sparse hairs with a beak-like nose wearing a green uniform of some type with black leather boots entered the throne room of what used to be Mobius Castle. There, a master control chair was faced towards a set of high-tech monitors and away from the man.

"So, tell me, Snively... how did that lab rat and his gang get past my security, and reduce my Stealthbot factory to rubble?" asked a deep, dark, and sinister voice that sent chills crawling up Snively's back from the command chair.

"Through the use of an air duct and explosives, Doctor Robotnik," replied Snively.

"An air duct, you say? Hmm... I want security beefed up around that second factory, and seal off the air ducts. And while you're at it, have the building's structure reinforced. We can't afford to have the same mistake happen twice, now can we? Losing both factories will set me back weeks, if not months," said Doctor Robotnik.

"Yes, sir. Oh, and there's one more thing. When the workerbots were clearing away the rubble of the factory, they found a Freedom Fighter... battered and injured, but alive," said Snively.

Robotnik chuckled as his command chair turned around, revealing the tyrant to be a rather tall yet bloated Overlander who actually resembled some kind of egg-man who had an accident with a Roboticizer. He was completely bald but was rocking an impressive, oily, reddish-brown mustache. His eyes were black where the whites should be and had red dots for pupils wearing a long red coat with four yellow buttons that housed a number of different surprises, black and yellow pants that had a metallic-looking belt with a brown circular "buckle," black, white, and red shoes, orange pauldrons, and a black and yellow cape flowing down his back.. Both of his arms were robotic, but only his left one was completely mechanical, with the insignia of the Robotnik Empire painted upon it as though it was a tattoo, while his right arm was painted red and orange, ending in a gnarled organic hand clad in a white glove. An apparatus was wired into this arm that allowed him to control all of the machinery and mechanisms in the throne room, as well as those in the rest of the castle. In his lap was a robotic bird, a chicken to be more accurate.

"Oh, that's good, Snively. Very, very, good. Where is he now?" Robotnik asked his nephew.

Snively pulled out a radio. "Bring in the prisoner!" he commanded as he spoke into the device.

The door opened, and two SWAT-Bots dragged in a very battered Cat, who was in shackles and had a bad limp, and placed him before Robotnik.

"Now, then, old boy... if you tell me the location of Knothole Village, then I give you my word that you will not be roboticized," said Robotnik.

"Go... to Hell, Robotnik... I'm not telling you anything," gasped Cat, wincing with every word he spoke.

"Ooh, defiant, are we?" said Robotnik with a sneer. "Almost as bad as confidence. Both are a fool's substitute for intelligence. Well, I've got news for you, old boy. I have machines of all kinds... such marvelous machines. Machines that follow their programming and do as they are told. Even better, they don't need time off to get drunk and put the boat in the water, and they can do things that your pathetic little mind cannot imagine."

Cat gulped in fear. He was in no condition to endure whatever that evil, heartless Overlander had in mind for him.

Robotnik saw this and laughed. "Ah, afraid of what I'm going to do to you? Well, you should be. See, under the Acorn regime, being a living, thinking being was a God-given right. But, now it's nothing more than a privilege, one that I have revoked for every single Freedom Fighter who dares defy the Robotnik Empire," monologued the merciless dictator, before a button flashed on his control panel. Pressing it, Robotnik said, "This had better be important."

_ "Sir, we have a visual on Princess Acorn. She is currently on her way to area 12, sector 9, quadrant 32," _ said a robotic voice.

"The Dark Swamp... what the Devil is she doing there? Where is the hedgehog?" asked Robotnik, raising an eyebrow.

_ "Contact negative, sir. She is with known Freedom Fighter Antoine D'Coolette. Orders?" _ the robotic voice asked as the sound of weaponry being primed was heard over the feed.

Robotnik thought about the situation for a moment. On one hand, this could be his one and only chance to capture the Princess and strip the Freedom Fighters of their leadership, thus ensuring his ultimate victory... unless that damn science fair project got involved. But, why would Sally even set foot in the swamp in the first place? Was there something that could be of use to her, or preferrably, himself, in there?

Finally, Dr. Robotnik made his decision. "Keep an eye on them, but do not engage. I want to know what the Princess is up to in that swamp," he said.

_ "Acknowledged," _ the robotic voice said before the feed went dead.

"As for you," said Robotnik, returning his attention to Cat. "You could be of use to me down in the Oil Fields."

With that, Robotnik signaled his SWAT-Bots to take Cat away. As the SWAT-Bots dragged Cat away, Robotnik asked Snively, "How are the upgrades to Project Metal coming along?"

Before Cat heard Snively's reply, the doors slammed shut.

_ A Short Time Later... _

_ Damn it, Cat, where the Hell are you? _ thought Shadow as he made his way through Robotropolis. He had just been at the factory's location, only to find that worker bots were already halfway through cleaning up the scraps, meaning that they would've found Cat by now.

Just as Shadow was about to call it quits with his hunt, a transport flew his way, forcing Shadow to duck into a conveniently placed alleyway as it flew past. It was then that Shadow recognized exactly what kind of transport it was.

_ A prisoner transport... if Cat's alive and Robotnik has him, he'll probably be in a holding cell somewhere. If he's not there... well, then it's safe to say that he died fighting, _ thought Shadow. He then started to follow the transport, staying far enough behind it so that he didn't appear on their scopes. Before too long, the transport arrived at one of Robotnik's detention buildings. Shadow managed to slip inside just before the gates slammed shut.

As the Ultimate Life Form watched from his hiding spot behind some crates, the ramp leading out of the transport lowered, and a SWAT-Bot led a prisoner out of it.

Shadow's face spread into a grin when he saw who the prisoner was.  _ That Cat sure knows how to take a hit, _ thought Shadow.  _ Now I just need a way to follow them without being seen. And keep Cat away from the Roboticizer. _

After looking around for a moment, Shadow caught sight of a small vent, barely big enough for a maintenance robot to fit in, that seemed to lead past the security door and into the holding cell bay area. Shadow crept over to the vent and unsheathed his sword, which he then used to pry the cover off the vent.

Shadow sheathed  _ Maria _ once again, got on his hands and knees, and proceeded to crawl through the vents. Before too long, he managed to find Cat and his SWAT-Bot captors making their way past cells containing countless other Mobians, each begging not to be roboticized, and insisting they did nothing wrong, before they finally arrived at an empty cell block.

Shadow snarled inwardly. This wasn't the first time he had to bust one of the Freedom Fighters out of Robotnik's dungeons, but he still hated every second of it. He would free one cell block of Mobians, but the rest were never lucky. By the time he was finished with the block he was on, two more blocks would be roboticized. It practically killed him every time he was forced to leave the remaining cell blocks be.

Worst of all, it reminded him of how he lost Maria...

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Shadow returned to the agenda at hand. He waited until the SWAT-bots left empty-handed before making his move. Keeping to the shadows, Shadow made his way down the cell block until he spotted the older Freedom Fighter.

Shadow approached the cell and whispered. "Cat. Cat! Over here."

Hearing the hedgehog's voice, Cat got up from the cell's cot and approached the barred door. "I wish I could say 'I'm glad to see you, Shadow.' But, you've got to get out of here," the old cat said to Shadow. "Robotnik's surveillance drones picked up Sally. He knows she's headed for the Dark Swamp. You've got to go and save her," he explained.

Hearing this, Shadow's ears flattened in anger as he unsheathed  _ Maria _ . "Just give me a second to get you out-"

"No, Shadow! Forget about me. You must go after Sally. Without her, the Freedom Fighters, and Mobius, are done for," Cat said, his voice filled with authority as he spoke. "There's more, though. Before I was brought here, I was able to hear Robotnik talk to that sniveling nephew of his. He's working on a new operation he calls 'Project Metal'. I don't know about you, but something tells me that it's not good."

But before Shadow could say anything, a gang of SWAT-bots appeared from the opposite end of the corridor and began firing their lasers at him. Snarling, Shadow fired several rounds from one of his SMG-blasters before he started to back up. "I'll come back for you, I promise," he told Cat before he turned around and bolted from the area.

_ Meanwhile, at Robotnik's Citadel… _

As Shadow made his way out of the prison, Robotnik was watching, a sinister grin forming on his face. Suddenly, Snively approached his uncle and spoke. "All of Project Metal's upgrades are complete, sir."

"Send him in, then," Robotnik said, his grin seeming to grow even wider as he spoke.

Snively nodded as he pressed a couple of buttons on a wrist communicator. He then proceeded to do the various tasks his master ordered him to do as the door slid open. The sound of light metal feet made its way towards the center of the control room before making a set of sounds that indicated that whatever was approaching the throne was kneeling before the tyrant.

"Ah. My second-most crowning achievement," Robotnik said as his chair spun to face the entity that had arrived. "I have a job for you. Go to the Dark Swamp and capture Princess Sally. If Shadow the Hedgehog interferes, destroy him."

A pair of red eyes glowed in the shadows as a robotic voice spoke.  _ "As you command, Dr. Robotnik." _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes the opening chapter! Yes, I decided to give Doctor Robotnik his movie design, just for the sake of emphasizing the fact that this series is very much set in an Alternate Universe. Apart from that, I think I did a fairly decent job with it. In any case, if you liked what you saw here, then be sure to kudo, bookmark, and comment, and be sure to join us next time when Project Metal meets and squares off against Shadow, Sally, and Antoine! See you then!


	2. Metal Sonic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome back to Shadow the Hedgehog: Season One! Well, as I had already posted chapter two of this creation back over on fanfiction.net, I was debating on if I should post Chapter Two here on AO3 today or tomorrow, but in the end, I decided to post it today. That being said, from here on out, updates will be consistant with the fanfiction.net version, with an Eclipse Cannon charge period delay in between uploads on my these two venues.
> 
> In any case, I don't really have much else to talk about, other than I intend on doing everything I can to make sure the Subter-File stays at least somewhat relevant to the Freedom Fighter's attack runs and missions, as it always bugged me that something that led to the first scrap of information on Sally's father in who-knows-how long just kinda gets forgotten or something, so I'm going to try to incorporate some continuity into this version of the SatAM storyline. And on that note, let us start the game!

_Chapter II_

_Metal Sonic_

In the insect-ridden mires of the Dark Swamp, Princess Sally and Antoine were trudging their way through a muddy stream, keeping a lookout for some sign of King Acorn or the mysterious Subter-File he had mentioned in his message... not that they actually knew what it looked like or what it did, but that still didn't diminish its importance.

As the two of them made their way through the swamp, Sally thought she heard something and stopped in her tracks, her hand moving towards the hilt of _Rising Dawn._ Antoine, meanwhile, didn't see that the Princess had stopped, and bumped right into her, scaring the living daylights out of him and sending him scurrying up a tree with a scream.

In one lightning swift move, Sally unfolded her rapier, ready for a fight. "Antoine, what's wrong?" she asked, before she saw him in the withered old tree. "Are you okay? You're trembling."

"Oh, no, no, no, my Princess, n-not trembling, uh, I-I am _shivering_ , yes, I must 'ave caught, ow you say, a terrible cold," said Antoine, before giving an unconvincing false sneeze. "I am thinking we should just return to Knothole."

In that instant, the branch Antoine was sitting on broke, causing the French coyote to fall into the stream.

"No, Antoine," said Sally with a firm voice as she folded up her sword. "My father is alive, and I'm going to find him."

With that, Sally pulled out Nicole. "Nicole, are there any kind of... structures in the Dark Swamp?" she asked the device.

_"Searching, Sally,"_ said Nicole. A moment later, the search had been completed. _"One structure located: Iron Lock Prison."_

"Iron Lock Prison?! Oh no, come on, Antoine!" said Sally, grabbing Antoine's arm and dragging him through the mud.

_Meanwhile..._

As Shadow made his way out of the city, he began to feel guilty about not having saved Cat, or any of the other inmates inside that were trapped inside of that prison. No doubt that unless he returned quickly, all of the prisoners would become robotic slaves for that tyrant.

As the jet black and crimson hedgehog drew near to the Dark Swamp, he passed by a wide ravine with two poles on each side of it, as though a bridge had once been there. Stopping dead in his tracks, Shadow looked out over the ravine. He paused, almost as if time had stopped, and almost robotically, walked up to the ravine, and took a knee at the edge of the cliff, his head bowed low and eyes closed in mourning. Shadow knew this place. He knew the place well… _far_ too well.

It was there that Shadow lost the last of his family on that terrible day.

_Ten Years Earlier..._

_It was the day of Robotnik's coup d'etat and the sky had already darkened from the seedling smog from Robotnik's opened factories. Shadow was a boy of eight at the time as he and his fellow future Freedom Fighters fled Mobotropolis. They were being led by Princess Sally's nanny, Rosie, to a safe place called Knothole, where Robotnik could never find them._

_Already the children had lost their loved ones. For Sally, it was her father: King Maximillian Acorn. For Antoine, it was his father, General D'Coolette. And for Shadow, it was his creator, Sir Charles the Hedgehog, and his creator's nephew, Sonic the Hedgehog._

_Shadow had seen the robotization himself. He saw in horror how it turned people he knew into mindless robots. The Hedgehog family was nearing the end of the line, with Sonic being taken away. Distraught at his nephew being taken, Charles turned to young Shadow and with a hidden paperclip, unlocked his chains. As the chains fell, Charles proceeded to free his daughter, Maria._

_Maria was a pale blue hedgehog like her father, inheriting her mother's golden hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in a turquoise dress with white trimming and white buckled shoes, her hair pulled back by a blue headband. She was more than Sonic's cousin and Sir Charles' daughter. She was Shadow's sister and best friend after Sonic and Sally. As Charles freed Maria, he spoke to his children._

_"Now listen here, kids. I want the two of you to find your friends, then find Rosie. She'll take you to a safe place far from here," Sir Charles told his children, the utmost and gravest seriousness in his voice._

_Tears began to well in the siblings' eyes as their father spoke, but it was Maria, her tears falling more rapidly than Shadow's, who asked the question they both dreaded to ask. "But...what about you, Papa?"_

_Charles embraced his biological child in a tight hug, his own tears falling. "I have to stay here, sweetheart. I'll buy you both some time to get out of here. It's already too late for Sonic, but I refuse to let the two of you become roboticized," he told his daughter before he looked to Shadow and brought him into a hug as well. "Shadow, I want you and Maria to make me a promise."_

_Shadow looked up from his tear-soaked eyes at his adoptive father and creator. "W-what is it, Father?" the black and red hedgehog asked._

_"I want you to promise me to use your power to protect others. Protect your friends. Protect the people. Protect the princess. And protect your sister. Protect each other. Can you promise me that, Shadow?" Sir Charles asked, the utmost seriousness in his voice as he spoke._

_Shadow, as a child at the time, didn't quite understand him, but nodded nonetheless. "I will, Father," he said with something close to a determined look on his face._

_Charles then turned his head to Maria. "Maria. Promise me that you will take care of Shadow and the others. Okay, sweetheart?" the middle-age hedgehog asked his daughter._

_Maria nodded without hesitation, her tears still falling."Y-yes, Papa," the little blonde hedgehog said, her voice cracking as she spoke._

_Sir Charles' ears perked up upon hearing the sound of robotic feet returning. Turning to his children, he gave them each one tight hug before speaking to them one last time._

_"Remember. I love you both," he said as ushered his children away. "Now go. Hurry!"_

_The children didn't want to leave, but they made their promise and knew such promises shouldn't be broken. With one final look, the hedgehog children ran off as rogue versions of the original model for the SWAT-bots came for Sir Charles the Hedgehog._

_In the course of an hour, the hedgehog siblings were reunited with Sally and were able to make it out of Mobotropolis, thanks to the aid of a pair of masked strangers. Although, Shadow had the strangest feeling that the deadly serious, darker, brooding male of the pair reminded him of himself in a way that felt as though there was a deeper, more meaningful connection, while the kind, gentle, and stubborn female of the pair reminded him of Sally somehow, and judging from his sister and Sally's expressions, they had a similar feeling about these individuals. Their two saviors mysteriously disappeared after delivering the three of them to Rosie in order for her to take them to Knothole Village, a secret hideaway that no one outside of the Royal Family and their retainers knew about, created in case such a catastrophe as another Great War or the very disaster that was befalling Mobius at this very moment, were to happen._

_That said, the male of the masked pair seemed very reluctant to depart from Shadow, Sally, and, for some strange reason, especially Maria, if the way his gaze lingered on the blonde female hedgehog, or the fact that he apologized to her for some strange reason, was anything to go by, while the female of the two instructed Rosie, who seemed to know who these masked people were, to never leave Knothole._

_However, what had become of these strangers, the children couldn't care less at the moment as they were fleeing the fallen city, hounded by Robotnik's massive flying ship, the Destroyer, that destroyed everything the smog it generated touched in an instant, before inexplicably exploding and crashing into the ground with tremendous force just as they had reached the outskirts via a hidden passageway. A short time later, the entourage came across a rickety old bridge, causing nervousness and worry to spread amongst the children._

_"Remember, dears. Just keep your eyes straight ahead and don't look down," the nanny gently told them as she began to usher the children one by one across the bridge, starting with herself and Sally._

_One by one, the children made it across, save for Shadow and Maria. Holding on to his sister's hand, Shadow led her across._

_"We're almost there, Maria. Just a few more steps and-" Shadow said, doing his best to keep his sister calm, only for his words to get cut off when two of the railing ropes snapped, causing the bridge to break into two. Shadow was quick to grab one of the planks and keep his grip on Maria. Shadow's eyes widened with fear as he saw what was beneath them: a raging river. One slip and it was all over. Rosie and the other children called out to them as the nanny, Rotor, Bunnie, and Sally started to pull their side of the rope bridge up._

_Things got worse when Shadow and Maria both sensed that the black and red hedgehog was losing his grip on the blonde's hand._

_"Shadow! I-I'm slipping!" screamed Maria as both tears and terror began to fill her eyes._

_Shadow quickly found himself in a state of panic. He had to do something fast or he could lose Maria. "Maria! Hold on!" he cried out as he struggled to keep his grip._

_"Don't let go! Please, Shadow, don't let me fall!" Maria begged as her tears began flowing out of her eyes and falling into the river below._

_The black and red hedgehog then started to lift his arm. If he could get Maria to grab onto the bridge, they could climb it like a ladder and get to safety. But fate was cruel as Maria's hand slipped from his own._

_"SHADOW!" Maria screamed as she fell, a look of sheer terror and horror on her face that would forever haunt Shadow's memories and nightmares alike._

_Shadow was ready to jump after her when he found himself being grabbed by someone. That someone was Rosie. Shadow struggled fiercely to get out of her grip and go after his sister. He looked back down and saw no sign of his sister. Tears flowing from his eyes, Shadow let out a heartful scream of his own._

_"MARIA!" the black and red hedgehog bellowed as the same look of horror and terror filled his own eyes as he crumpled to his knees._

_Present Day..._

The adults of the newly-formed Freedom Fighters searched the ravine and downriver for any sign of Maria. All they could find was a torn piece of the dress she was wearing that day. Shadow had kept it as a memento of his sister and the promise he had failed to keep. For weeks following the tragedy, the Ultimate Life Form was in a depressed state until Sally was able to talk him out of it. Even to this day, whenever the princess, now his girlfriend, found him brooding over his failure to save Maria, usually after a mission had gone wrong or a large number of Freedom Fighters and innocents were killed or roboticized, she would continually remind him that the one who was truly at fault for Maria's death was Robotnik.

And, as always, she was right.

Since then, Shadow had trained in various forms of martial arts, weapons, and learned how to truly harness and master the powerful abilities that he had been created with as part of the Ultimate Life Form project. When Rotor and Tails created his sword with a special metal compound and one of the Power Crystals that the king gave to Sally, Shadow had christened the weapon he was gifted with _Maria_. Since then, he never left Knothole without the sword strapped to his back. Of course, it was going to take more than lasers and the blade of a sword in order to accomplish what he desired most off all: to overthrow Robotnik and avenge his family.

Despite knowing full-well that Robotnik was the one who had Maria's blood on his hands, Shadow nonetheless continued to blame himself for losing Maria, though he had gotten very good at keeping it under wraps. In truth, this wasn't the first time he'd visit the ravine where she died. And every time he was alone and thinking of his family as he was now, he would do something that he'd only done in public once as a child, kneeling down, placing his hand in front of him on the ground as he closed his eyes.

Shadow would sing.

_"Words are born into air_   
_And quickly fade out in the wind_   
_But they find their way inside you_   
_Where they live on forevermore..."_

_"When skies are dark and full of rain_   
_Look inside your heart_   
_The light, so warm will and all aglow_   
_Shining just like the sun."_

_"You can see, just how much you've grown_   
_How strong you are._   
_A love will open up to you_   
_And it starts from the day that you,_   
_first heard those words..."_

As he sat at the ravine, Shadow's lament was a song that Maria had often sung before Robotnik had seized power. She had once told him that it was written and sung to her as a lullaby by her mother while Charles' wife was sick from her terminal illness, NIDS, if he recalled correctly. Thouugh he often didn't show it, Shadow often wondered what it would feel like to have a mother, but had found Rosie more or less like one. Of course, he knew from the beginning that he was born in a test tube. But, the only one who had any true objections was Robotnik. Antoine had tried to belittle him with his origins when they'd first met, only to later cower in the corner in fear from not only an angry Shadow, but an equally furious Sally as well. Antoine never teased him about it again afterwards.

As Shadow finished his lament, he spoke to the spirits of those whom he had lost so long ago. "Maria… Father… Sonic… I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep my promise… but now… I swear upon Maria's grave… for the three of you… and the people of this planet who have fallen victim to the same fates or worse… I promise you all… revenge!" Shadow snarled to himself before picking himself up, and, after giving the ravine one last look, headed off to the Dark Swamp.

_Meanwhile, at Robotnik's Citadel..._

Snively approached his uncle, who was lounging on his throne. "Dr. Robotnik! We have the hedgehog! He's headed for the Dark Swamp!" the bald little man told the tyrant.

Robotnik grabbed a headset and put it on his head. "He's looking for the princess... a possible double-header," he muttered as he pressed a button on the headset. "Dr. Robotnik to Metal, do you read me?"

_"I gotcha, doc. Reading you five-by. Oh, and by the way, this new upgraded body is AMAZING! I was fast before, but now no one can catch me! And to top it off, I can't believe how much stronger I feel!"_ said a clearly robotic voice with the air of a teenager who got a new guitar for Christmas.

Robotnik chuckled. _Teenagers. Always so easily impressed with bigger and better things,_ the dictator thought to himself before speaking aloud. "Oh, trust me, Metal, my boy, there's far more to your upgrades than merely enhanced strength and speed. Snively here will give you a rundown on your new offensive and defensive capabilities," he said.

Snively took the headset from his uncle before he started listing his new specs. "Alright, Metal, first off, your body has been remade using a new type of pollymer-alloy hybrid that nothing in all of existance can possibly pierce, rendering you virtually indestructible. In terms of combat, you've been outfitted with two wrist-mounted rapid-fire blasters. That should help with some of the more weaker targets. Also, your claws are now diamond-tipped, which should allow you to rip through most obstacles. You've also been equipped with an impenetrable black energy shield for enhanced protection, and an EMP Generator, which will allow you to discharge electricity," said Snively before handing back the headset.

The mysterious Metal let out an R2-D2 like whistle. _"Sounds like I've become a real war machine. So, onto business, then. Am I correct in assuming you've got Shadow's location, sir?"_ it asked.

"You assume correctly, Metal. He's on his way to the Dark Swamp. He's probably looking for Princess Sally…" said Robotnik before a lingering concern of the tyrant made itself known. "I can trust that your… _past history_ … with them will not interfere with your mission?"

For what felt like hours, the line was completely silent, before Metal's voice spoke up again.

_"Back then, I was nothing, pathetic, worthless, weak... organic. But, then you came along and gave me the greatest gift imaginable, worth far more than any friends or family could ever be: you gave me purpose. I will not waste such a gift by sparing rebel scum like Shadow and Sally Acorn. Shadow will die, and the princess will either join him in death or submit to robotization."_ the cold, emotionless voice said, making Dr. Robotnik's black, metallic heart expand with pride.

"That's my boy," muttered the mad doctor.

_A Short While Later..._

Shadow was skating his way through the Dark Swamp, but so far had found no sign of Sally or Antoine. Until...

_Bingo, footprints,_ thought Shadow, spotting Sally and Antoine's footprints and immediately changing his direction to follow the trail. _I've got to find them before Robotnik unleashes this 'Project Metal'-_

_"Roadkill!"_ yelled a robotic voice as something very solid and very fast rammed into Shadow, sending him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him.

_What the Hell was that?_ thought Shadow as he pulled himself up and looked in the direction the thing that had hit him went.

Due to the dark of the night and the shadows of the surrounding foliage, he could only make out a faint silhouette with glowing crimson eyes. The glow indicated that the being was of inorganic design created by Robotnik, no doubt.

The mystery robot chuckled. _"Well, well, well. Looks like I was able to catch up with you this time,"_ it said.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at the robot's statement, noting that despite it clearly being synthetic, its voice sounded familiar somehow. _More importantly, what does that thing mean, 'this time?'_ thought Shadow before he spoke aloud. "Have we met before?" he asked the robot.

_"No, we haven't… at least in this form. But, I doubt you'll be around long enough to worry about that, organic scum,"_ said the robot, before generating an electrical field and charging at Shadow, an attack that the Ultimate Life Form simply jumped over, before he pulled out _Maria_ and fired a laser bolt. The mysterious robot flew over the blast, chuckling darkly.

_"You couldn't hit the side of a factory with that kind of a shot, Shadow. Let's see if you're fast enough to dodge these,"_ said the mysterious robot, before he opened fire with a hail of laser bolts.

Shadow was able to somehow evade most of the laser bolts, although one of the blasts nicked his shoulder. Ignoring the stinging, Shadow clicked the heels of his Hover Shoes together, and took off.

_"Get back here, coward!"_ snarled the mysterious robot as he activated his rocket boosters and took off after the black hedgehog.

Shadow, however, knew he was at a disadvantage with his shoulder injured. True, as the Ultimate Life Form, he had a healing factor that ran circles around that of an average Mobian, he needed a nice, quiet, safe place for it to kick in. On top of that, he needed a healthy and capable body to wield _Maria_ to its full potential, as with all the components needed for it to double as a blaster rifle, plus the fact that the blade was composed of a special type of metal, it was heavier than your traditional sword.

_I need to get away from that thing somehow!_ thought Shadow before he caught sight of an old tree trunk. _Time to disappear._

Shadow was quick to duck into the hollow of the dead tree and made quick to steady his breathing, allowing his healing factor to at least partially kick in. Upon hearing the sound of the robot's foot rockets hissing, the dark hedgehog held his breath as everything fell silent.

_"Come out, come out, wherever you are,"_ the robot sang in a taunting fashion.

Shadow's breath was shallow and silent as his heart felt as if it was beating louder and louder, making him worry about the possibility that the robot was able to track him via his heartbeat. If it found him like this, then it was game over for not only himself, but the Freedom Fighters altogether.

_"Hmm... you'd think Robotnik and Snively could spring for some sensor upgrades in addition to all of my new weapons,"_ muttered the robot, before it noticed the tree trunk. _"Nice hiding place, my old friend..."_ the robot said as it approached the tree trunk. _"But not good enough!"_

However, when it looked inside the trunk, there was nothing there.

_Meanwhile…_

Sally and Antoine stood before a crumbling old ruin that appeared to be some kind of fortress, with a battered old rope bridge to cross a moat.

"Sacre bleu! Is zat-?" asked Antoine.

"Yes... Iron Lock," replied Sally, before she pulled out Nicole. "Nicole, give me all the data on Iron Lock."

_"Searching... built in 1543 by Overlanders as 'Alcatraz Prison,' nicknamed 'The Rock.' Abandoned 100 years ago. No other data,"_ said Nicole.

With a sigh of disappointment, Sally and a whimpering Antoine began to cross the rope bridge to the ancient prison facility. As they made it halfway, Antoine whimpered to the princess. "My princess. I am thinking zis iz not safe."

Sally rolled her eyes as she kept walking. "Don't be such a worrywort, Antoine," she told the cowardly coyote, only to be forced to eat her own words a moment later as the bridge began to rock. The Freedom Fighters had to fight to regain their balance and stood still until the bridge settled.

"Are you alright, my princess?" Antoine asked.

Sally nodded. "I'm fine," she replied.

The pair then proceeded to enter Iron Lock. Unfortunately, the rotten bridge they had recently crossed collapsed, leaving them no way back via the front entrance.

After a while, the pair found themselves in one of the prison's cell blocks when Antoine spoke again.

"My princess, M-maybe I am thinking we should-" the cowardly coyote said before he was cut off when Sally noticed something a couple of feet ahead.

"Antoine! Look!" Sally cried out as she ran over to the object and picked it up. It was a piece of red and gold cloth.

"What iz it?" Antoine asked, clearly confused.

Sally, having recognized the pattern on the cloth, answered him. "It's a piece of my father's cloak. I recognize the design." She then held the cloth close to her chest, on the verge of tears. "He was here!"

Sympathetic, Antoine placed a hand on the princess' shoulder. After a moment, Sally steeled herself. "Come on!" the princess said before she and the coyote continued to press on deeper into the prison.

_Meanwhile..._

Shadow was still hardly able to believe he was able to escape that robot so easily by slipping out the opposite side of the tree trunk. After a moment of following Sally and Antoine's footprints, Shadow came to a large fortress. Using his Hover Shoes to give him the extra oomph he needed to cross the gap. Shadow entered Iron Lock Prison... unaware that the very robot he'd sought to evade was catching up with him.

As Shadow made his way through the abandoned prison, he began to hear voices.

"Antoine, let's check out some of the cells. My father may have left this 'Subter-File' in one of them."

"Okie-dokie, my princess."

Shadow smirked. He'd know those voices anywhere. Now, all he had to do was... bingo!

"Antoine, my father was in here!" said Sally's voice from a nearby cell, and upon reaching that cell, Shadow saw a golden opportunity.

"This is good, yes?" asked Antoine, before Shadow snuck up behind him and tapped his shoulder, causing the coyote to jump about three feet in the air and grab onto the doorframe. Sally, meanwhile, wheeled around with _Rising Dawn_ pointed at the intruder.

"Now, Ant, what on Mobius are you doing up there?" asked Shadow with a cocky smirk.

"Shadow!" said Sally, lowering her weapon. "Come and have a look at this."

Shadow looked at what Sally was pointing at. "It's a computer. A very old one," he said.

"Shadow, my father must have sent me those messages from this computer," said Sally.

"Does that hunk of junk even work?" asked Shadow.

"I don't know... fingers crossed," Sally said before she punched a few keys on the computer and it booted up.

_"Access code please,"_ said a computerized voice.

"Try...'Bean,'" said Sally.

_"Password accepted. Stand by for message,"_ said the computer voice, before a burst of static played out over the speakers, followed by a voice that everyone in the room recognized as King Maximillian Acorn.

_"Bean, this is your father. I've just managed to escape that blasted Robotnik's forces and I've been able to hole up here for a bit. As I'm sure you must realize, Julian must be stopped, at all costs. I've uploaded something to this computer that should help give you an edge against him. I… I'll be honest, Bean… I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep ahead of Julian until he catches up to me, but, no matter what happens, Sally, always remember this: I love you."_ the recorded voice of the true King of Mobius said until the feed went dead.

A heavy silence fell upon the room at that moment. Shadow chanced a glance at Sally, who looked just about ready to fall apart.

_"Downloading Subter-File to wireless device known as Nicole,"_ said the computer voice.

A few seconds later, both Nicole and the computer said, _"Download completed."_

Sally pressed a few buttons on Nicole and brought up the Subter-File. "Oh my God... these maps... do you guys realize what they do?" she said. Both Shadow and Antoine shook their heads. "These maps give us access to the Underground tunnels all over Robotropolis!"

Shadow whistled. "Thank you, King Acorn," he said, a smile crossing his face

_"I'd hold off on the celebrations if I were you, organics,"_ a synthetic voice said from nearby.

Looking down the corridor they had come in, the three Freedom Fighters saw a pair of glowing red eyes and a strange silhouette. Shadow, however, recognized the owner of the shape.

"You?! I thought I had gotten rid of you!" snarled Shadow as his hand reached towards _Maria_.

The silhouette chuckled darkly as it spoke, slowly walking to a spot where there was a moonbeam. _"Why, Shadow, have you forgotten already? When we played hide-and-seek as kids, I always found you."_

Hearing this, Sally pulled out _Rising Dawn_ and pointed it at the figure. "When we were kids? Were you..."

The robot nodded as he was a foot away from the moonbeam. _"Why, yes, princess. I was organic once upon a time. The doctor may have roboticized and weaponized me, but I am still very much someone you and the rest of your band of rebels know very well,"_ the robot said.

The Freedom Fighters gave a gasp as the robot stepped into the column of light. Now that they could see him, they found the robot to have a hedgehog-like appearance. It stood as tall as Shadow and looked about as strong as him. However, it was the blue hue that gave them an idea as to what, or who, this mysterious war machine had once been… and it was _horrifying_.

Antoine was shivering in his boots, _Honor Guardian_ held in his shaking hands as he looked desperately around for a way out of the room, and even Iron Lock Prison altogether. Sally was close to dropping _Rising Dawn_ out of a mixture of shock and horror. Shadow, however, took it the hardest. His complexion became pale as his irises and pupils shrank into little dots of horror.

"No... no! It can't be!" Shadow said, desperately wishing that this was all a bad dream, and that any moment, he'd wake up in his hut back in Knothole.

The blue robotic hedgehog gave a dark chuckle. _"It's been a long time, old friends,"_ he said, leaving no doubt that his trademark smirk would be on his face if he still had a mouth to make such emotions with.

Sally lowered her rapier, still struggling with the sight of her old friend as a robot. "Sonic... what... but how...? We'd figured you'd become one of Robotnik's slaves in his mines or factories," Sally said, horror evident in her voice as she spoke.

The roboticized hedgehog shook his head as he folded his arms. _"To be honest, that was Robotnik's initial plan. But, the good doctor, once he learned of my super speed, realized that I could be far more useful to him than as a pathetic slave. I've spent the last ten years being upgraded and perfected, and now, I have become what I was truly meant to be, the Ultimate Machine and leader of the Robotnik Empire's military forces: Metal Sonic!"_ he proudly declared to his former friends.

The princess instinctively reached out to the robot, seeing the blue hedgehog boy in his place. "Sonic. You don't have to do this. You clearly have that same strong will inside you. We can find a way to reverse the Roboticizer and-"

_"And what, Sal? Turn me back into a pathetic organic? Can't you see that Robotnik's offering us a great service? When you are an organic, you can feel pain. You bleed. And most importantly, you die. Granted, we robots can die as well, but not often by old age. We can upgrade ourselves. We can replace oil without worry. We machines live forever!"_ Metal Sonic proudly said, giving an insight to the three Freedom Fighters as to just how badly Robotnik had twisted his mind and warped it into what he wanted.

Metal then looked to Antoine and gave a small chuckle. _"Still the same coward as always, eh, Antoine? Just think. As a robot, you can no longer fear anything. You would become near-indestructible. And I am certain Robotnik could replace all of your fears by replacing useless parts. Take me for example. Nothing can pierce the special pollymer alloys that my new body is made of. On top of that, not only do I still have my super speed, but I can fly when I need to. And most importantly, I am no longer afraid of anything."_

Metal then looked to Sally, his synthetic voice turning almost pleading. _"Sal… don't you want to go home? Don't you want to reside in the palace again? Sure, Robotnik's the head honcho now. But, at least you would be back where you belong. And who knows? Maybe the doctor can tell you what he had done to King Acorn,"_ he said.

Metal then looked to Shadow, who was still horrified at what Sonic had become. _"And my dear friend and 'cousin', Shadow. You know as well as I do that the doctor despised your creation. He would rather have you destroyed more than anyone else on all of Mobius. But, it doesn't have to be this way. If you surrender, I can convince Robotnik to use the Roboticizer on you. Not only would you be an Ultimate Machine like myself, but you can still keep your title as the Ultimate Life Form. And remember Uncle Chuck? He's still operational. We can have a family reunion. Once you and Maria come home, that is."_

Shadow cringed at Maria's name. Even if he _could_ accept Metal Sonic's offer, how could he face his father with the knowledge that Maria had died the same day the two of them escaped?

"Sonic, you know we can't do that. Robotnik is _killing_ the planet. With each factory that goes up, with every cloud of smog, he's poisoning the ecosystem. Worse, he's enslaving our friends and family. And that is something I cannot abide by," said Shadow, while Sally and Antoine nodded in agreement.

Metal Sonic sighed, disappointment somehow evident in his voice. _"Very well, then... you leave me no other choice. For what it's worth… I'm sorry,"_ he said as an electrical field surrounded him before he charged at Shadow. Shadow jumped over the attack, leaving Metal Sonic to crash into a wall... and triggered a trapdoor within the cell the Freedom Fighters were in, causing them to fall down a pit.

_"Oh, son of a-!"_ snarled Metal Sonic as he turned around to watch the Freedom Fighters fall. _"Oh, well. Perhaps they won't survive the fall... and if they do..."_ He paused for a moment. If he still had a mouth, it'd have an evil grin on it.

_"...well, then. That just gives me more opportunities to prove myself to Dr. Robotnik."_

_Meanwhile, With The Freedom Fighters..._

The Freedom Fighters' fall came to an abrupt, and soggy, landing as they fell into what appeared to be an underground tunnel or a sewer, like the ones in Robotropolis.

"What just happened?" asked Antoine.

"Sonic just triggered a booby trap in that cell is what happened," said Shadow as he helped Sally get out of the sludge they were all in.

"Where are we?" asked Sally.

Shadow could only shrug in response, before he caught sight of an eerie red glow. "You two stay put, I'll go check out that red light," he said before pulling out one of his SMG-blasters and skating his way down the tunnel.

Antoine and Sally waited for what felt like an eternity as there was nothing but silence. Her own heart beating rapidly, Sally called out, "Shadow? Are you ok?"

Suddenly, they heard three gunshots. Grasping their swords, Sally and a reluctant Antoine ran down the sewer until they found Shadow, the barrel of his blaster smoking, an obvious sign that he had shot at something.

"Shadow! Are you alright?" Sally asked.

Shadow nodded as his stance relaxed. "Yes," he said, his voice almost emotionless.

Antoine gulped as he struggled to keep a solid grip on _Honor Guardian_. "Iz it Sonic?" the coyote asked nervously.

Shadow shook his head. "Let's just say it was something you'd never want to marry. There's a fork in the road up ahead. Sal, check the Subter-File maps, maybe they can help us find a way out," he said, his voice still as emotionless as before.

Bringing out Nicole, Sally uploaded the tunnel maps and began to study them. "Okay, we'll take this tunnel on the right. It'll lead us to the second Stealthbot factory," said Sally.

"And how exactly are we supposed to level the factory without any bombs?" asked Shadow.

"That's simple, actually. I'll reprogram the Stealthbots to self-destruct when they're launched. The shrapnel from the explosions should be enough to render the factory out of commission," explained Sally.

"All right, you guys go on ahead. Cat's in a holding cell in the detention center. If I hurry, I can still save him in time. Meet you guys back at Knothole," said Shadow.

With that, the trio departed. Sally and Antoine went to sabotage the remaining Stealthbots while Shadow left to try to save Cat.

Before long, Shadow arrived at the detention center and approached Cat's cell, only to find that the old timer was already gone.

_Damn_ , thought Shadow, clenching his fists in anger, before laser fire from a couple of SWAT-Bots who'd seen him forced him to retreat.

_Knothole Village-A Couple Hours Later..._

Princess Sally had just finished telling the rest of the Freedom Fighters of Knothole about what had transpired in Iron Lock. When they learned what had happened to Sonic, they were beyond horrified. Sonic had been a good friend to most of the teenaged Freedom Fighters and to hear about the monster their old friend had been forced to become was enough to shake the foundation of a great many of them.

Sally was equally saddened at this. But, she also knew someone who was taking it harder than everyone else: Shadow.

As the villagers went off to bed, the princess looked around Knothole until she found who she was looking for. Shadow was sitting on a stone slab that overlooked the nearby pond, where the river Uncle Chuck had stashed a supply of magical rings that enhanced Shadow's abilities ran to. He was gazing up at the stars, with _Maria_ and most of his equipment back at his hut. Sally didn't need to see the saddened look in his eyes to know what he was feeling.

She climbed up the stone and sat next to Shadow, hugging him in the process. "I'm sorry, Shadow. None of us were prepared for that. Seeing Sonic again as he is now," Sally said comfortingly.

Shadow remained silent, his gaze focused on the starry night sky. After a few moments, he finally spoke.

"I... I still remember the last night my family and I spent together. Father, Maria, Sonic, and I were stargazing that night. Father telling us which constellation was what, while Sonic and Maria made up their own shapes. Later on, Sonic brought out dinner, which included chili dogs. His favorite," Shadow said, his voice cracking as he spoke, grasping one of Sally's hands as he struggled with his emotions.

"If only we had learned of Robotnik's treachery sooner. If only King Acorn hadn't dismantled the Ministry of Defense. If...if..." growled Shadow.

Sally knew why the black and red hedgehog was struggling with his words. Shadow was on the verge of crying. While the black and red hedgehog was never one for showing such a weaker, more sensitive side, preferring to don the persona of a confident and battle-hardened leader and soldier, for the sake of those he fought alongside and sought to liberate from the Robotnik Empire's tyranny.

But, when the two of them were behind closed doors, Sally had seen a side of him that made it clear to the princess that even her lover and boyfriend, despite being the Ultimate Life Form created in an attempt to produce a supersoldier, had cracks born from what had happened when Robotnik launched his coup d'etat, and when Shadow did show this side of himself, it was usually the result of something very serious. The heiress to the Acorn throne held the Ultimate Life Form tightly, placing her head on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Shadow. You're free to cry around me. You know I won't judge," Sally said comfortingly as she felt wet tears falling onto her shoulder after she had said that. Sally gently lifted Shadow's head up and kissed him. Shadow closed his eyes and kissed his true love back. After a few moments, the two lovers broke the kiss, and Sally looked at Shadow, gentleness in her eyes.

"Someday, Shadow. Someday, we'll get rid of Doctor Robotnik. Take back our planet and our home. And someday, we'll find a way to reverse the Roboticizer. Then maybe, just maybe, we can save Sonic and turn him back into who he was," Sally said soothingly.

Shadow nodded as he sniffled. "Yeah... someday..." the Ultimate Life Form muttered as he and Sally turned to look at the moon in the sky.

"Someday…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes the second chapter, and the second half of the "Sonic Boom" retelling story arc… thing. Yes, I decided to incorporate the "Metal Sonic is Sonic Roboticized" theory into the narrative, as I honestly thought it'd be a fun idea to do something like that, and plus, I DID mention that Sonic existed and was roboticized alongside his Uncle Chuck in this AU. Naturally, Metal Sonic will indeed be an integral piece of this series/AU going on past the events of Season Two of Sonic SatAM, alongside Snively rising up from Robotnik's ashes with Naugus, as my research has indicated, and you'll get to see Metal Sonic begin to develop into the villainous conquer known as Metal Overlord in this story, actually acquiring his Copycat and Shapeshifting abilities via that same purple artifact from Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode Metal during the events of "Sonic and The Secret Scrolls," or rather "Shadow and The Secret Scrolls," as those ruins seem like the kind of place where that type of thing would be hidden. Also, I decided to go back and actually GIVE Shadow a lamnant to sing, and I think Lyra's song from Fairy Tale works beautifully in that type of scene. Real hard to find a decent Male Cover though.
> 
> On that note, I am also planning a story where, via an incident involving Chaos Control, Shadow, this AU's versions of the SatAM Freedom Fighters, and Metal Sonic all end up in the actual Sonic SatAM universe, during the events of the series, no less… along with the Chaos Emeralds themselves, which would spell game over for everyone if Robotnik got his hands on them. Naturally, that also means there will be tear jerking and comedic moments alike, an example of the latter being most of the Freedom Fighters being in awe at this AU's version of Tails, who is more in line with the version from the games in terms of maturity, intellect, and gift with all forms of technology, robotics, machines, and all forms of science in general, complete with this exchange taking place:
> 
> SatAM Sonic: Whoa, Tails… I didn't know you were secretly a genius... that's like some Ro-butt-nik level tech that guy is rockin' there!
> 
> SatAM Tails: Well, to be honest, I didn't even know I was that smart…
> 
> ShadAM Tails: Heh, where do you guys think the saying "as smart as a fox" comes from?
> 
> Furthermore, the SatAM Freedom Fighters will be nothing short of horrified at the prospect of Metal Sonic, both because he's a roboticized version of their leader and that he's a tyrannical monster on par with, if not worse than Robotnik himself, given that he calls himself "The Metal Overlord of the Metal Kingdom." While a few Freedom Fighters, Sonic himself included, get their own night terrors caused by Metal, SatAM Tails gets the worst out of all of them. But, that's all a long time down the road, and I think that I have gone on for long enough. So, if you all liked what you saw here, then be sure to fav, follow, and review, and I'll see you all next time as we start the "Shadow and Sally" portion of the story.


	3. Captured!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome back to Shadow the Hedgehog: Season One, the opening act for my "ShadAM AU," as I have decided to call it. Well, the last chapter did pretty well for itself, and as per usual, that gives me fuel in the tank to keep working on this creation. Now then, thanks to my latest payday, I was able to secure ownership of the entire Sonic SatAM series via the Google Play store, and now have a reliable source of the original material from which to draw in order to build and perfect my master plan for these first two stories. To that end, and after reading through the episode list, I have decided to splice episodes from both Seasons One and Two, as well as merge a little something original into them all as well, such as dedicating a few chapters for Shadow trying to figure out how to actually use and master Chaos Control, as well as figuring out how to use his other Chaos powers that require a Chaos Emerald as naturally, due to his inexperience with those particular abilities in this AU, he'll sometimes freeze time when he wants to teleport, and vice versa. Additionally, I plan on this story's big finale being my version of the events of Blast To The Past Parts One and Two, where I actually plan on Shadow and Robotnik (who, unlike the younger counterparts of the Freedom Fighters, Maria, and Sonic, knows EXACTLY who the all-grown-up Shadow really is) having a one-on-one fight onboard the Destroyer, resulting in the airship's crash.
> 
> Additionally, I have recently uploaded this creation onto AO3, which I consider to be this story unlocked to its full potential, thanks to being able to embed both YouTube videos of the themes I have selected, but images as well, so as to give you all a better idea as to what these versions of the characters look like. I have also gone back to the previous chapters and made a few adjustments, such as incorporating the "Nothing can pierce Metal Sonic's polymer alloys" thing from the Sonic OVA, and shuffled a few of the character themes around, particularly in the case of Metal Sonic, as I recently found a fanmade leitmotif for the Metal Overlord, while his original theme will be used for Neo Metal Sonic when he shows up. Also, in case you haven't seen the modified Author's Note for Chapter One, I have opted to try to incorporate some of the new characters that have popped up in the sixteen or seventeen years since SatAM ended in this AU, such as Mephiles the Dark (now with a mouth!) takes the place of Ixis Naugus as creator of The Void and eventually becoming a key player in Season Three onwards, working alongside Snively. No Solaris in this AU, as Iblis will merely be a creation of Mephiles' like The Void.
> 
> Also, Tails is sixteen in this AU, having been six when Robotnik launched his coup d'etat, so expect to see him and his own wonderful toys on the battlefield FAR more often than in Sonic SatAM, those toys including his Tornado/Cyclone, which has his Magic Hand boxing glove thingy built into it ala Eggman's mech from SA2, his various blasters and bombs (imagine the look on Robotnik's face when a Dummy Power Ring Bomb detonates on him!) as well as a variety of other his gadgets, gizmos, weapons, and equipment, like the Medi-Drone and Shield-Drone, the latter of which will also double as a variant of the traditional Sonic power-ups, like the Bubble Shield, Fire Shield, an offensive version of the Magnet Shield, etc. Also, thanks to being both Shadow's sidekick instead of Sonic's, as well as being a teenager, the ShadAM version of Tails, while still in line with his characterization from the games, is FAR less naive, and a bit more mature than his other incarnations.
> 
> Well, that's enough on my end, so let us start the game!

_Chapter III_

_Captured!_

"Whoo-wee… an' Ah thought Robotropolis was bad on the top side…" muttered Bunnie Rabbot with a thick Southern Mobius accent as she trudged through the sewer behind Shadow and Sally, the latter with Nicole out, the Subter-File maps on a holographic screen. 

Bunnie was a partially-roboticized female rabbit with brown fur and purple eye-shadow, wearing a black jacket with a grimy pink blouse underneath, faded blue jeans with cuts and tears in them, through which her robotic legs could be seen, and a black leather belt. Compared to most victims of robotization, be it complete or partial, Bunnie's mechanical left arm and legs had a sleeker, less clunky appearance, mostly thanks to the upgrades, enhancements, modifications made by the Freedom Fighter's own brainiacs, Rotor Walrus and teenage genius Miles "Tails" Prower, the latter's intellect and natural gift with machines, technology, and virtually all forms of science on par with, if not surpassing, Doctor Robotnik's own. 

Thanks to their efforts, Bunnie's mechanical legs had rocket boosters, allowing her to fly and move almost as fast as Shadow himself, while her arm could shift between a variety of different appendages, from a repulsor cannon capable of shattering concrete with its regular shots alone, while its charge shots could reduce an entire building to rubble, to a grapple claw. It was also capable of generating a powerful defensive matrix, or in layman's terms, an energy shield.

Of course, working on Bunnie's upgrades allowed Tails a few benefits of his own, such as getting to know the cyborg rabbit's niece better, and as a result, begin dating her… or at least, do something as close to a proper date that two enemies of the state run by a megalomaniac that had a machine that could turn Mobians into robotic slave labor could actually partake in.

"What were you expecting from King Acorn's maps? Some place like the Metropolis Zone, where all the 'air purifiers,' fat cats, over-privileged parasites, and the good shopping are?" Shadow asked the cyborg rabbit, an unreadable expression on his face as he adjusted the satchel full of explosives on his back.

It had been three days since the prototype Stealthbots and their production facilities had been blown sky-high, or at least, as close as they could _get_ to the sky with the perpetual dark clouds of smog that loomed over Robotropolis, and since they had crossed paths with the sinister war machine that had once been a dear friend, Metal Sonic.

_Ah still can't believe what happened to the ol' sugar-hog… what did that monster Robotnik do to 'im after he roboticized 'im, to make 'im talk an' act like that? Ah just hope that when Tails an' Rotor figure out how ta reverse the Roboticizer, we can still save 'im from what he's become…_ thought Bunnie as she recalled what Sally had told them about the new leader of the Robotnik Empire's military and the self-proclaimed "Ultimate Machine."

While Shadow, thanks to Sally's help, seemed to be doing better at the very least, Bunnie and the rest of the Freedom Fighters could still see that the Ultimate Life Form was still rattled by what had happened at Iron Lock Prison. They just hoped he'd be okay, given time.

"All right, this is our stop," Sally said as she and the others stopped at a rusty ladder leading up to a manhole cover. With Shadow in the lead, the three Freedom Fighters made their way up to the surface, directly in front of one of the Robotnik Empire's many SWAT-Bot factories. When the Freedom Fighters first began their bombing runs on the factories spouting out Robotnik's pawns, many of them had often questioned what the point was when Robotnik could just build a dozen more to take its place.

Shadow and Sally had told the Freedom Fighters that each little victory earned by every Robotnik facility leveled, no matter how insignificant, added up, and with time, they'd have a few hundred more under their belts, sending Robotnik a clear message that he and the others would keep fighting to the bitter end, no matter what. Plus, it served as excellent training for those members of the Freedom Fighters who were still green, and Shadow in particular couldn't help but feel some form of righteous satisfaction as he watched these facilities crumble and burn to the ground, flipping the proverbial bird at Robotnik.

And after finding out what that greasy son of a bitch had done to Sonic, this was _exactly_ what the doctor ordered.

Shadow shot his girlfriend a smile, which the princess returned. Sally really knew him so well, didn't she? Granted, he would very much prefer to be in the midst of a mission to level a few more important targets that would _really_ put the screws and the hurt to the Robotnik Empire, these factory bombing runs Sally had lined up would satisfy his thirst for vengeance against the doctor for the time being.

As the three Freedom Fighters emerged from the tunnels, they were immediately greeted with the foul stench of the poisonous smog that was generated from the smokestacks from their target nearby, causing them all to go into a brief coughing spell.

"Don't y'all just love this fresh air?" Bunnie sarcastically asked as everyone's coughing spells came to an end, and she began prepping the explosive canisters in Shadow's satchel.

Shadow scoffed. "About as much as I love Robotnik, or the fat cats and aristocrats who provide him with all his money and power, which they themselves got by stepping on other people's throats, and even the throat of their own monarch," he spat, disdain heavily laced within his voice.

Sally pulled out Nicole and began pressing commands into the small device's keypad. "Arm canisters, Nicole," Sally instructed.

_"Arming, Sally,"_ the datapad replied. As Bunnie finished prepping the last of the explosives, they each began to blink with a red light as Nicole's voice returned. _"Canisters armed."_

"All right, you're all loaded there, Shadow," Bunnie said as she closed Shadow's satchel once again.

Shadow nodded before he, Sally, and Bunnie synchronized the watches that Tails and Rotor had built for all the Freedom Fighters. "We only have five minutes to get into position, and we need to make sure that the SWAT-Bots don't find us until we want them to," Shadow said as he went over the plan he and the others devised. "We'll meet up at the meeting place once the mission is done. If anyone is late, get yourselves back to Knothole ASAP. Understood?"

"Understood," Sally and Bunnie replied at the same time with a firm nod before Bunnie took off running, waving behind her as she went.

"Good luck, y'all!" the partially roboticized rabbit said as she went to take her position, leaving Shadow and Sally behind.

"United we stand…" Sally said as she held out her fist to the black hedgehog before her. 

Shadow smiled at his girlfriend. "For life and freedom, we fight," he said as he and Sally did their secret handshake from when they were kids, back before Robotnik seized power, before the two of them departed for their own positions.

_A Short Time Later…_

Shadow poked his head out from his hiding place consisting of a large pile of junk and scrap metal near one of the entrances of the factory, and caught sight several SWAT-Bots and even a few JET-Bots, which looked exactly the same as regular SWAT-Bots, except they had demonic wings that allowed them to fly through the air with the grace and skill of the dragons that had gone extinct with Robotnik's coup, despite a great many unconfirmed reports from both the Robotnik Empire and the Freedom Fighter's own intelligence saying otherwise.

_Dammit! With that welcoming committee at that entrance, there's bound to be a shitload more inside, ready to pounce at the first sign of intruder activity,_ Shadow snarled inside his head. _Gonna have to find another way inside…_

As Shadow looked around for another way inside the building, the sound of a ship's engine caused him to look up, allowing the Ultimate Life Form to catch sight of an approaching recycler ship, designed to carry bits of junk and scrap metal from all over Robotropolis and take it to one of Robotnik's factories to be melted down and converted into materials needed to make more of the tyrannical doctor's robotic militia, or to make other bits of machinery for the doctor's plans.

_Bingo,_ thought Shadow, a smirk appearing on his face as he picked up an iron bar from the ground before throwing it at a security camera, causing it to break into pieces right next to one of the SWAT-Bots, which in turn prompted the entire group of SWAT-Bots and JET-Bots to leave their posts at the front entrance to try to find whoever had broken the camera, and giving Shadow the chance to use his Hover Shoes to run up the side of the wall and into the dock for the recycling ships.

As Shadow looked around, his enhanced senses primed and ready to detect any sign that he had been detected, he heard what was unmistakably the sound of another recycler ship coming in to drop off its load. Acting quickly, Shadow jumped off the opposite end of the dock and used his Hover Shoes to evade a dip in the vat of molten metal. Tucking and rolling, Shadow stood still for a moment, his senses straining to see if anyone had heard or seen him jumping from the dock.

After a few tense moments, Shadow slung the bag of explosives off of his shoulders and checked his watch, the display of which indicated that only sixty seconds of their designated five-minute window were left.

_Meanwhile, With Bunnie…_

_There it is!_ thought the partially roboticized rabbit as she made her way towards her target, the electrical control box for the factory. However, just before she reached the box, an alarming sound blared from overhead: the sound of a SWAT-Bot cruiser coming ever closer to her position.

Looking around for someplace to hide, Bunnie found a metal crate nearby that she quickly dove behind, hoping that the SWAT-Bots wouldn't see her, only for those hopes to quickly become dashed when the one of the SWAT-Bots spoke.

_"Alert! Alert! Sensors have detected heat signature from an organic life form! Preparing to locate origin!"_ the SWAT-Bot said as an alarm blared in the cockpit, only for the taloned claw of the cruiser's pilot to slam onto the dash of the cockpit, silencing the alarm.

_"Do not bother. We are in close proximity to a substation. EMP interferes with heat signature readings. Ignore, and continue the designated patrol route,"_ the pilot said.

_"Affirmative,"_ the first SWAT-Bot acknowledged, allowing Bunnie to breathe a sigh of relief before she made her way back towards the electrical box, ripping the metal covering off like it was gift wrap using her robotic arm.

Placing her hand on the breaker switch, Bunnie checked her watch and began counting down the seconds. "Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen…"

_Back With Shadow…_

As he darted through the shadows to avoid detection by the SWAT-Bots, JET-Bots, and NEST-Bots, which took the form of vehicles akin to tanks and were capable of deploying smaller, just as dangerous vehicles when they sustained critical damage, eventually becoming a sticky bomb as a last resort, Shadow was keeping track of the countdown as well.

"Eight, seven, six, five, four…" muttered Shadow as he kept an eye on the watch.

_Back With Bunnie…_

"Three, two, one… bingo!" Bunnie muttered before pulling the breaker, shrouding the entire factory in darkness.

_Meanwhile, with Sally…_

Sally was perched a short distance away, Nicole held tightly in her hands as she tracked Shadow on a map of the factory.

_Come on, Shadow, get out of there!_ thought Sally, starting to feel worried about her boyfriend, as judging by the tracker's movements, Shadow was currently engaged with Robotnik's security forces.

However, Sally quickly realized that she should be more concerned with her own safety when a laser bolt just barely missed her. Looking up, Sally saw a SWAT-Bot cruiser hovering above her, weapons aimed directly at her.

With a panicked gasp, Sally folded up Nicole and started beating a hasty retreat as Robotnik's forces pursued her, _Honor Guardian_ firing energy blasts at her pursuers as she ran.

_Meanwhile, with Shadow…_

_Dammit!_ thought Shadow as he dodged enemy fire from the pursuing enemies while returning fire with his SMG-blasters and shredding approaching SWAT-Bots with _Maria_. 

A round of laser fire from overhead caused Shadow to turn his gaze in that direction to see a few JET-Bots flying overhead, trying to nail him from above. With an irritated scowl, Shadow leapt up into the air as blood red energy crackled around his fingertips like lightning.

"Disappear!" spat Shadow as he launched blood red bolts of energy, known as Chaos Spears, at the flying robots, destroying them almost instantly.

However, even with the JET-Bots dispatched, there were still NEST-Bots to deal with, and the clock on the bombs was ticking. Looking around, Shadow caught sight of a massive container full of scrap metal and machine parts. A smirk crossed Shadow's face as he clicked the heels of his Hover Shoes together and raced off towards the crane where the container was being held, with the NEST-Bots in hot pursuit, only for the machines to lose track of the Ultimate Life Form when he rounded a corner.

It didn't take long for the bots to figure out where Shadow had gone, however, when a voice rang out from above. "And now for the forecast: tonight, you can expect showers!" the black hedgehog called out before dumping the contents of the container of machine parts onto the NEST-Bots, rendering them truly out of commission as they were crushed by the falling metal and machinery. " _Heavy_ showers," Shadow added with a smirk that was quickly wiped off his face with a resounding explosion.

"Uh-oh, time to go!" exclaimed Shadow as he pulled out one of the Warp Rings his father had created for him and absorbed it. Instantly, he felt a sizable boost in the power that flowed through his body. Clicking his heels together, Shadow raced out of the factory, a sonic boom going off behind him as he passed through the crumbling entrance.

_Meanwhile, Back With Sally…_

The princess breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Shadow racing out of the exploding factory and pulled out Nicole. "Nicole, prepare for-" Sally started to say before a robotic voice interrupted her.

_"Raise your hands, prisoner!"_ demanded the synthetic voice of a SWAT-Bot as it and several others like it, along with a few JET-Bots and NEST-Bots, aimed their blaster limbs directly at her face.

Realizing that she had effectively been caught by Robotnik's forces, Sally could only utter one thing.

"Well, shit."

_Knothole Village - A Short Time Later…_

Bunnie Rabbot came hurtling through the hollowed out tree that doubled as the secret entrance to the Knothole Village curled up into a ball and crashed into a bale of hay that was placed there.

"Whooie! Ah feel like Ah was dragged through a knothole!" Bunnie exclaimed. "Er, so to speak!"

"Aunt Bunnie! Did you destroy the SWAT-Bot factory?" asked a young female voice from nearby.

As Bunnie emerged from the haystack, she caught sight of the owner of the voice that had just spoken. Cream Rabbit was a young rabbit of around sixteen with light tan and dark brown fur with silky hair the same shade of tan as her namesake reaching down to her shoulders. She was wearing a white blouse with a blue ribbon bow, a black skirt, and black clogs with white socks. Overall, her outfit resembled a school uniform of some kind. Bunnie was Cream's aunt on her mother's side, and her only living relative. Cream's father had died of illness when she was very little, and her mother, Bunnie's sister, Vanilla, had been roboticized when Robotnik launched his coup.

"Calm down, sweetie. Your Aunt looks like Hell right now, so let her catch her breath, okay?" said a male voice from nearby with a small chuckle as he approached. This new voice belonged to a young fox todd of sixteen years old with yellow-ish orange fur and a pair of twin tails fluttering behind him. Miles "Tails" Prower, Cream's boyfriend and one of the two technological and scientific geniuses that made up the brains of the Freedom Fighters Against Robotnik, was clad in a pair of aviator/welding goggles atop of his head, a brown bomber jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, both of which were covered in grease and oil stains from working on his machines, blue jeans with rips and tears in them held up by a black leather belt, and black work boots.

"Language, Tails," both Cream and Bunnie chided with an amused smirk on their faces as the latter climbed out of the hay bale.

"All right, all right…" Tails responded as he helped Bunnie up. "But, where's Shadow and Sally?" he asked.

Before Bunnie could give a reply, a black blur shot out of the entrance slide as though they were shot out of a canon, crashing into the hay bale.

"Now that's what I call fireworks!" Shadow said with a proud smirk on his face. "I tell you guys, I'll never get tired of blowing Robotnik's factories and facilities into oblivion… I just hope that someday, that'll be the real him. Am I right, Sally?" When Shadow didn't get a response from his girlfriend, his face fell into a frown. "Sally?"

"She ain't here, Shadow. Ah had to make a very unladylike retreat, and when Ah got to the meetin' place, there wasn't nobody there, so I came right back to Knothole like we'd agreed," explained Bunnie.

"Son of a BITCH!" Shadow snarled before clicking the heels of his Hover Shoes together to take off back to Robotropolis, only for Tails to grab ahold of Shadow. "What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"Shadow, I know how much Sally means to you, but you can't go back there right now!" Tails cautioned. Before Shadow could retort in response, Tails quickly added, "Robotnik is going to be on high alert after you guys just leveled his latest factory. Going back now would be tantamount to suicide!"

"So, what you think I should just leave Sally to die?! Or worse, let her get roboticized and turned into a mindless drone like my father and creator, or worse, become a monster like Sonic?! We don't have time to wait around!" Shadow snapped angrily.

Tails heaved a sigh. "Look, Shadow, I'm not saying I like leaving her like this either. She's like an older sister to me in so many ways… but we're gonna have to, at least until morning when the next Power Ring shows up," he reasoned, a serious look on his face as he spoke. "Knowing Robotnik, he's not gonna roboticize Sally right away, not with how high she and the rest of the Freedom Fighters are on his hit list. With how desperate he is to track us down and wipe us out, he'll probably do anything and everything he can to try to get Knothole's location out of her, or use her to carry out some other plan of his in order to rout us out."

"An' if Robotnik _does_ have Sally-girl, actin' now to get her back could be exactly what he wants, an' then we would _really_ be up a creek without a paddle," Bunnie reasoned.

Shadow heaved forced sigh. He really, really, _really_ didn't like this… but, in the end, they were right. Robotnik would no doubt be alerted to the fact that not only had the Freedom Fighters leveled another factory, but that the SWAT-Bots had captured Sally. Robotnik, being the narcissistic megalomaniac that he was, would no doubt spend days gloating about his ultimate victory while torturing Sally, trying to break her will in an attempt to locate Knothole, and should that fail, he would try to use her for another scheme of his, before ultimately roboticizing her regardless of the outcome.

"All right… first thing tomorrow morning, I'm nabbing that Power Ring, and I'm going to rescue Sally," Shadow said, a firm determination in his voice. "I won't let Robotnik take anyone else from me… never again…"

_Meanwhile, at Robotnik's Citadel…_

Metal Sonic was in the Citadel's Training Simulator, in the midst of his new "workout routine," which consisted of trashing a large number of Augmented Reality holograms of both generic and well-known Freedom Fighters. Granted, they were nothing like the genuine articles, with Shadow being unable to use the powers that Uncle Chuck had created him with. Admittedly, there were often times where Metal had wondered how the Ultimate Life Form had acquired such remarkable powers, powers so great that Uncle Chuck needed to create Inhibitor Cuffs to ensure that his cousin maintained control of his powers, instead of them controlling and potentially destroying him.

Metal remembered the last night he, Uncle Chuck, Maria, and Shadow had spent together, and the doctor had given him the wondrous gift that was robotization, or perhaps in his case, evolution, would be a more accurate term, although those weird people in the masks had tried to "save" him from it. 

But, while he had fond memories of that night, that was the past. Sonikku Allen Hedgehog was dead and buried, as far as the blue war machine was concerned. The whelp had been as weak and foolish just as his Uncle, cousin, parents, and siblings had been. In his place stood the Ultimate Machine, the right-hand bot of Doctor Robotnik, and the ultimate heir to the Robotnik Empire: Metal Sonic! He was more than that organic whelp Sonikku could ever have dreamed to become… and much, much more than his Uncle Chuck, Maria, or any of the Freedom Fighters could ever be. Save for Shadow and Sally, who Metal had developed a crush on back when he was just a pathetic organic, and the doctor, everyone else was nothing more than a speck of dust to him.

Metal paused for a moment, something having come to mind from his encounter with Shadow, Sal, and Antoine back at Iron Lock… Shadow had cringed when he had brought up Chuck and Maria. While the Ultimate Machine knew for a fact that Chuck was still functional, having seen him on the slave transport heading for the mines in the Quartz Quadrant Zone to begin excavation on some form of alternative power source for himself and the army under his command, it struck Metal as strange as to why Shadow would cringe at the thought of Maria… it also made his AI simulate something akin to a creeping sense of dread. When Metal had been studying, or rather, uploading, the footage of the Freedom Fighters attacks, particularly the ones involving Shadow, Sally, and the rest of his old organic friends… not once did he see Maria show up on the tapes.

Which led to only two logical conclusions: either Maria had simply chosen to live a quiet, peaceful life in Knothole with other dissidents against the Robotnik Empire and wasn't actually a part of the Freedom Fighters… or she was killed or grievously injured by an attack or accident of some kind…

However, before Metal could ruminate on this further, he received a notification on his HUD, indicating that the doctor was requesting his presence immediately.

_"Terminate training program,"_ Metal Sonic said. As the holograms vanished and the surroundings returned to normal, Metal grabbed a nearby oil can, cracked it open, and began drinking from it as though it were a can of soda as he made his way towards Robotnik's throne room, several SWAT-Bots and maintenance robots snapping to attention and referring to him as "Lord Metal," thanks to essentially being Robotnik's son.

Upon entering Robotnik's throne room, Metal was greeted with quite a surprise. The doctor was leering at what was unmistakably Sally in a robotization tube, and standing next to her was what looked like a barebones robotic knockoff of the Princess.

_Interesting… I wonder what the doctor has planned for that robot? And more importantly… I wonder if I can persuade him into making her like me once she's roboticized?_ Metal thought to himself, opting to remain silent while the doctor addressed Sally.

"I know that damn lab rat will come for you, dear girl… and when he gets here, I'll have a little surprise for him," the mad scientist said.

_"Here it is, Doctor Robotnik,"_ said Snively's voice, drawing both Metal and the tyrant's attention to another screen, where Snively was displayed holding a hard drive of some kind.

_"Enough RAM and memory to flawlessly replicate Mobian and Overlander complexity, courtesy of analyzing Metal Sonic,"_ the balding man said.

"Excellent, Snively. Install it!" ordered Robotnik.

As Snively began working on his task, Robotnik turned off his microphone and directed his attention to Metal Sonic. "And before you ask, Metal, the answer is yes. Once the princess is roboticized, I will make her just like you. After all… every prince must have a princess to dance with at the ball."

This response took Metal by surprise. _"Doctor Robotnik, sir?"_ he asked, confused.

"Don't play coy with me, my son. I've heard the way your voice chip fluctuates from time to time in certain situations, and the way you look at her so longingly makes it clear that you have the 'hots' for hers they say… you've developed emotions, Metal. I wonder, how did such a thing come to pass?" Robotnik asked, curiosity in his voice.

Metal chuckled. _"I wouldn't say that I 'feel' the same way as a normal Mobian does. My own theory stems from my having once been a pathetic organic, in that somewhere deep within my original 'blueprints,' for lack of a better term, I remember what each emotion is supposed to feel like, and thus, I have the ability to 'simulate' each emotion,"_ the roboticized hedgehog said. _"But the way Sally makes my hard drive heat up, and the way her smile makes me feel… that cannot be a simulation."_

Robotnik chuckled and gave a genuine smile to Metal. He remembered all too well that feeling… before his heart had turned black and shriveled away, reducing it to its current metallic state. However, before Robotnik could comment on it, Snively's voice returned.

_"The hard drive has been installed, sir,"_ Snively said as he reappeared for a moment before continuing to work on the cheap robotic knockoff of Sally, which was making noises that sounded like garbled audio.

"Very good, Snively…" Robotnik said. "Now then, my dear, I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me the exact coordinates for Knothole Village would you?"

_"Oh, yeah, sure I will!"_ Sally snarled in response. " _Just as soon as you tell me what you did with my father, and get off his chair, jester!"_

Robotnik chuckled. "I had a feeling you'd say that. In that case, it seems the time for talking is over. Now… it's time to push buttons," the tyrant said before pressing a button on his control panel.

The mechanical copy of Sally's garbled audio suddenly and abruptly changed into something rather alarming. "...get off his chair, jester!" the cheap knock off said in a perfect replication of Sally's own voice, causing the real Sally to gasp in horror, something that caused both Metal Sonic and Robotnik to give a dark, malicious chuckle as Snively typed in a command on the robot, causing to to march forward to stand alongside Sally as a second tube appeared, followed by a series of purple rings of energy, causing the robotic Sally to turn into the spitting image of the real one.

_"The classic Trojan Horse gambit… nice,"_ Metal Sonic said approvingly.

_"This isn't going to work, you know! Shadow is too smart to be fooled by a robot, even a good one!"_ Sally declared.

_"You know, doctor, she's got a point,"_ Metal Sonic said.

"Indeed she does, Metal, my boy… which is why my Robo-Sally isn't quite finished yet. She's missing one crucial component…" Robotnik said before pressing another button on his console, causing a purple ring of energy to appear around Sally's head.

The last thing Sally heard before she lost consciousness was Robotnik's voice.

_"...we need to add her sparkling personality!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes chapter three! I think I did an okay job with it, but only time will truly tell! In any case, if you liked what you saw here, then be sure to kudos, bookmark, and comment, and I'll see you guys next time as Shadow launches his rescue mission! See you then!


End file.
